


High Stakes and Volleyball

by Three_Oaks



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Benthan Week: Day 2, Fluff, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, M/M, Very slight hurt, Volleyball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-13
Updated: 2019-08-13
Packaged: 2020-08-20 21:29:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20234674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Three_Oaks/pseuds/Three_Oaks
Summary: When Ethan gets hurt during a high-stakes situation, things become desperate. How will they be able to face what very well may be a truly impossible mission?Or, alternatively: a game of volleyball gets out of hand.





	High Stakes and Volleyball

**Author's Note:**

> Describing this as Hurt/Comfort really stretches the definition, but I hope you enjoy it!

Among all the injuries Ethan had received over the years, this was by several order of magnitude far from the worse. It probably even didn't class in the top five hundred. The fact that he had a top five hundred wounds was probably more telling than he'd have liked, but he tended to place that under "occupational risks" more than "consequences of his extensive reckless tendencies." 

But it didn't change the fact that now was not the time he could allow himself to be distracted by anything, much less a twisted ankle. Probably not even twisted; he'd landed a bit wrong after a particularly daring jump, and it now threw flashes of pain through his leg every time he set the foot down. Was it really what was going to bring him and his team down, after fighting so hard? A barely twisted ankle? No. He couldn't allow it. He couldn't let it stop him. The stakes were just too high.

It had started well enough for his team. Benji was at his side as always, anticipating his movements, hitting hard where he couldn't. Jane, on the other hand, was more restrained; she analyzed everything with a sharp look, and struck decisive blows by seizing the instant, devastating their adversaries. It had looked like it was going to be a quick victory, but he'd known that the longer it went on, the more risky it was. Every second that went by meant more chances of defeat, and it wasn't something that he was willing to consider. He had to pull himself together. For his team. For Benji. 

He saw the hit coming from the corner of his eye, heading straight for Benji's head. Benji was looking the other way, a expression of pure focus on his face, which only reminded Ethan how much he loved him. He couldn't let it happen. No matter how much his ankle hurt, he jumped forward, putting every inch of his strength into the motion. He had to stop it. 

"And boom! In your face, Ethan!" Of course Brandt was gloating. He'd missed the volleyball by only a few inches, his dramatic dive slightly not enough to counter the pure hatred which Will had put into the hit. At least the sand was soft enough that the fall didn't hurt.

"Ethan, love, are you alright?" Benji leaned above him, frowning a little with concern. For an instant, Ethan lost himself as he stared. The sky was blue above Benji, and the sun made his hair shine like gold. He was beautiful. The fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt probably also contributed significantly to the reasons why Ethan was, once again, breathless at the sight of him. 

"Hey, gorgeous," Ethan said with a widening smile. 

"Hey to you too. Need some help?" Benji extended a hand toward him and pulled him to his feet. Ethan took the chance to get his weight off his feet and leaned on him. He was now flush against Benji, who was also at least as sweaty as he was. Benji was warm against his skin, and he didn't want to step back just yet. He raised his hand, ran it along Benji's cheek, before tilting his head down and pulling him into a kiss.

"Ethan, Benji, will you please stop behaving like teenagers? Or do you forfeit the game?"

"You wish, Brandt!," said Benji with renewed resolve. He picked the ball, and gave it to Jane so she could serve. They hadn't lost yet, and weren't going to give up, no matter how much Brandt hoped they would.

It was simple enough, in theory: Ethan, Benji and Jane against Will, Luther and Ilsa. The first team at twenty-one won, and got to stay at the beach house while the other headed back to DC to start on the paperwork. He cursed Hunley once again. Sure, he'd been tolerant enough to allow a few of them to stay behind given paperwork was hardly a six-agent job, but Ethan now wondered if it wasn't even worse. At least, if they'd all had to go back, they'd have been able to blame it on Hunley, while it now all rested on his decidedly insufficient skills at volleyball. And his stupid ankle. It was rare enough that the had a mission that took them to a tropical island in the Indian ocean, much less for it to go so swimmingly that they had time to relax afterwards. Ethan was determined to make the best out of it. And to enjoy a beach holiday in the sun with Benji instead of filing reports in the cold January weather of Washington. So yeah, the stakes were high.

He walked back to his side of the field, trying his best not to twist his ankle again. 

"Wait, Ethan, what's wrong with your foot?" Oh, no. Benji had noticed.

"Nothing! I might have twisted it a little bit, but it's fine, really." He hoped he didn't look as sheepish as he felt.

"No way you're running on that. Look, it's swelling already!"

"You think?" 

"Yes, I think, you lunatic. Just sit down." Benji then turned to Brandt, and went on, "And enjoy watching us obliterating those jerks!" 

This proved, however, to be a slightly overoptimistic evaluation of their situation. Benji and Jane fought valiantly, but without Ethan their success rate plummeted. They'd been neck to neck three against three, but two against three was just too much, no matter how determined they were. Ilsa was taking every opportunity to smash the ball into the sand before they could do anything, Brandt more often than not following up with a devastating service. And, more quickly than he'd thought possible, they lost. 

"I'm sorry, love, it looks like we're in for the paperwork," Benji said as he dropped down on the sand next to Ethan, putting an arm around his shoulder. 

"I'm the one who should be sorry. If I had been able to keep playing..."

"Then you'd be hurt. And I'd take an eternity of paperwork, in a basement, in January, with you safe and sound rather than a holiday in paradise when you're in pain."

They stayed on the beach for a while longer, Ethan resting his head on Benji's shoulder, treading his hand through the warm sand. The noise of the waves was hypnotic, and the heat of the sun mad him want to never move again. Stay here, forever, with Benji.

With a sight, he finally said, "We have to go, don't we?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. But I was thinking... We both have enough overtime to last for a century, so maybe we could come back, take a real holiday? I mean, if you want to."

Ethan leaned toward Benji, until they mouth brushed against each other, and whispered, "There's nothing that I'd like more." 

It didn't matter that they had to go back. They were together. And one day, they'd come back.


End file.
